Razov should be given another chance on the USMNT. He shuld have been on the World Cup team and is in top form at the moment. Even if he mouthed off or was divisive before the Cup he deserves anbother chance.
I agree with you. He should be given the chance to come back to the squad, and then see how he works with the team. I'm not sure he is enough of a team player to fit with BA's mentality. He seems to be a bit of a showboat/hothead, not unlike Mathis. You can't argue with his form currently, though I'm not sure BA's going to be impressed enough to leave Kirovski off of the Gold Cup squad for him (really only possible deletion from the current squad prior to the Confed Cup, unless someone plays poorly or is injured). I do think he's probably the next choice for strikers in his current form.
Coach Arena places a premium on harmony and Ante may have to adjust a bit more to accomodate this. But Arena has shown and time again that he does not hold grudges and will give peope a second chance.
well based on this shouldn't jason kreis get a look? the guy has the same amount of goals as razov does at this point in the season, and preki is totally tearing it up right now, which means he should no doubt get a chance to impress as the AM during the gold cup. right?
Razov - Maybe. The problem with Ante is that you never know when he's going to just disappear for an entire match. (i.e. DCU vs. Fire last week.) Twellman has proved dangerous and has created hav-ock consistently. Kreis has the same problem but to a lesser extent. (BTW - Razov has 5 goals in 6 games and Kreis neede 8 games to produce the same tally.) Hurt or Help - Razov taking Kenny Arena to the cleaners for Fire goal #3?
isn't Ante somehwhat one-dimensional? He really doesn't hold the ball, he doesn't deliever to many crosses, he only uses his left foot, and he has trouble creating for himself. I mean yea if he gets open near the box, he'll rip a shot, but thats about all he does. I wouldn't mind seeing him on our team though. Everybody needs a gunslinger and thats Ante. Not sure if Arena would like the lack of versatility however
comparing kries and razov is not accurate. unlike kries, razov has proven he can finish at the international level, albeit against concacaf minnows.
Can we all agree that Wolff, Mathis, Donovan, and McBride are better fits for the USMNT than Razov? Maybe there is a debate about Josh Wolff but the other 3 are clearly better at what they do and even if they aren't they are clearly preferred by the Bruce. Now let's add into that mix the host of other candidates that Bruce can consider: Buddle (pretty good start this year before the injury), Casey, Kreis, Twellman, Cunningham, and Eskandarian just to name 6. Razov can score, but he doesn't create or do much else other than bring an attitude and get into fights with teammates and plant his studs into opposing defenders thighs. I wouldn't consider Razov. I think he is just as likely to get a red in Saprissa or Guatemala as he is to score in such places. There are players with better attitudes and that are less volatile that still have MLS success to base their choice on like Cunningham and Twellman or players that have a higher potential upside than Razov like Buddle or Eskandarian.
Buddle and much more so Eskandarian need more experience. And Esko still needs to show he's ready for the nats. If he doens't start scoring in the MLS there is no reason to beleive he'll do it for the Nats. I think Kreis has had his opportunities. Casey needs to get someplace and play. That's my biggest gripe against Kirovski right now. Jovan has barely been playing for his club. Should he really be in France right now? Well, it's the Confed Cup so it doesn't matter that much so go for it. But unless he gets in a lot more playing time with his club, I'd rather not see him lurking about for the wc06 qualifiers.
disagree... bruce is looking towards the future - for the most part. preki and kreis are both out of the picture for WC2006. the gold cup is important, but bruce has plenty of younger talent for the gold cup that will likely be contributing in '06. razov, although controversial in some respects, is still is in his prime and would still be by '06. is he top five on the depth chart? no. should bruce give him another look? sure.
IIRC 2 of Razov's goals have been PKs created by other players. Being the designated PK taker inflates your goal total.
Not unlike Ruiz. PK's should be noted differently. I'm not a big Razov fan but I've seen him send in some nice crosses in addition to his poaching. Slow, though, very slow.
He is not as creative as many of his teammates, but he can do something other than score. He is very unselfish and can make some good passes if his team has some openings. He scored in Mazetengo and Sapprissa. That ain't hay.
The thing I like about Razov is that he isn't afraid to shoot. I think he should get another shot. When was his last cap by the way?
last appearance - april 3rd 2002, started a 1-0 W v. mexico - scored against el salvador in his next to last cap (the game when BMB scored a trick) - as a matter of a fact in his last 18 caps, razov has 6 goals, 2 assists and the US is 11W-4D-3L - also 3G, 1A in 9 WC qualifiers i say give him a look - he showed a pretty complete game against the metrostars yesterday
I rate Razov as next in line behind Wolff in the forward depth. He has shown that he can score in the World Cup qualifiers. I would be a lot more comfortable playing him than Twellman at this point. But it's good for Twellman to get his chance at the Confederations Cup.
Razov is feisty and opportunistic, holds the ball quite well but still needs to work on distribution and being unselfish. I think he would have been a nice component to our team in Korea, but surely, no one can argue with our results over yonder...... But time is fading quickly for Razov, and there are more, younger players coming up the ranks who add more to the mix then Razov. Buddle has great size and speed, Johnson is very fast and has shown well in the league, Magee is adapting very well to the MLS, and Casey has shown some positives in Germany. Time is against Razov, as Bruce surely will want to develop some of these players with an eye towards 2006 and beyond.
all Razov does is shoot well, but then shooting well is not unimportant. He is, on balance, a good player, but just doesn't add enough to the mix to get in, unless we have a ton of injuries.
No Razov At this point I don't see Razov being given another shot unless we get to qualifying and we are heavy on the injuries. Bruce has a crop of established quality forwards to go with for now and will fill in with and test yonger tallent during both friendlies and the tournaments to help us prep for Qualifiying. Its more important at this point to give McBride, Mathis, Donanvan and company time together and/or give new young tallent like Esk and Buddle chances to learn what the international stage is like than it is to bring in Razov. There may be a time next year during qualifying when the experienced players are all injured, unavailable or in the dog house and Razov would be a likely choice to bring some experience in.